This quote was taken from the October 17, 1988 issue of DER SPIEGEL, a weekly German news magazine. It is one of Europe’s largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of 840,000.

Many websites, including Wikiquote and TED have used the quote, “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” That is a shortened version of what Hawking actually said.

The interviewer asked Hawking, “The question of our location in the universe seems almost overwhelming to deal with. Do you have a response to that?” Hawking replied, “We are just a little advanced breed of monkeys on a small planet orbiting around a very average star.But we can understand the universe, and that makes us very special.”